Are There Scorpions in the Yucatan?
When we first moved here, we asked this question to most of the people we met. "Oh, sure, " they would say," they definitely have them...but we've seen maybe two in our lives." When my dad moved here to Telchac Puerto, he reported seeing a couple of tiny ones outside. So we thought, fine, tiny ones you can deal with, and we've STILL never seen one outside of a pet store in Gran Plaza.
But then, not five minutes ago, this big mamma jamma right here came strolling into our carport:
All that really comes to mind is, "holy loving christ." Now, for scale, here he is post-mortem next to a one peso piece, which is a little smaller than a US nickle:.
Jillian is huddling on the couch, mumbling her own name over and over in an effort to comfort herself. All I know for certain is, I would really, really, REALLY like to avoid being stung by one of these, pretty much for the rest of my life. That can be a standing request.
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Comments
Ah yes, scorpions. Holy crap it's scary to see one in the flesh. And that sucker is huge. I've killed 4 in the last 14 months in my apartment, 2 of them on the wall 3 feet from the head of my bed. Not cool. That being said, other than the first one http://nateinmorelia.blogspot.com/2006/04/rim-chop.html
they were all pretty small. Just make sure to shake out your shoes in the morning. I'm told it's a favorite hiding place. Honest.
Posted by: Nate | April 3, 2007 03:07 AM
Imagine my surprise seeing them in my bathroom right here in the Panhandle. Apparently they like to go after water..so...shoes on in the bathroom, and actually where ever you feel the slightest bit nervous...Urk..hate them.
Posted by: Mom | April 3, 2007 08:29 AM
Can that even be killed? 25lb sledge or something?
Posted by: Matt | April 3, 2007 02:33 PM
Time to buy a mongoose.
Posted by: Matt | April 3, 2007 02:38 PM
Shaking out your shoes is also good for cockroaches and centipedes.
Posted by: Mom | April 4, 2007 08:54 AM
I've been told by many Mexicans that the most poisonous ones are the small ones. That said, I totally freaked myself out when I found one crawling on my sneaker/runner/tennis shoe while climbing pyramids in Calakmul.
Posted by: kathy | April 6, 2007 09:08 PM
These are sadly very common - so are ferdilances -the super poisonous snake that will actually chase you for up to a mile! The locals kill them with the dull side of the machete rather than the sharp side because if you chop the snakes head off it can spring up and bite you! Also, people here are terrified of....geckos!!! They think they have stingers in their tails! Finally -just wait til you come across one of the weirdest creatures I've seen -the tailless whip scorpion -It's huge but really spindly and hangs out in the bathroom. It reminds me of Odilon Redon's paintings & drawings (cyclops & spider combined). It was also featured as the bug that Mad Dog Moody tortures in the last Harry Potter movie. Here's a link to a photo of one : http://www.mtu.edu/current/student_abroad/images/2005/cr_scorpion_lg.jpg
Posted by: Emily O | April 14, 2007 03:52 PM
Um, when we bought our house we asked the owners about these bad boys...they said they had seen maybe 1 or 2 in the past ten years.....yeah right, we've already encountered 14 (yes, we are counting) in 6 months. None have yet to pierce our flesh, but holy hell do they ever get my heart pounding...a side note...the cats love to kill them, I don't know how they do it without getting stung, it's always at night and we find them presented as gifts. And these are lazy fat gringo cats, who never saw a scorpion in thier entire lives...until they were thrust into the Yucatan jungle from their previous boring home in Oregon.
Posted by: Suz | November 4, 2007 11:55 PM